Aging And Photography

Roger Hicks said:
(Numbers in bold added)

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2 Why? If I'd joined the Freemasons when I had the chance, it might well have done me some good. But I didn't, and that was 40 years ago: it ain't gonna change now. Besides, it might not have done me any good: as Umberto Eco said, all counterfactual conditionals are true. I'm glad, overall, that I took my father's advice and didn't join the lodge I was invited to join by one of his chums. My father was never a Mason either. ............

Cheers,

Roger
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Roger,

I humbly think that at point 2, you may have forgotten our friend wrote at the begining he is 40. In very broad and general terms I could regard the thoughts as related to the age, in what is called the "mid-life crisis" (this may be another Heblish trunked translation, sorry).

I mention this as well because it seems to me that what this thread has been mainly about is not that sort of crisis, when one feels strong enough to start it all over again. It is perfectly ok for our friend to ask such questions and find his answers. And I think you will agree with me here.

Cheers,
Ruben
 
Hello Ruben,
As you are the official RFF Philosopher, I expected such a thread coming from you. I have been feeling changes as I am getting older, but we can compensate. I am now carrying reading glasses in my camera bag. I doubt it that I would repeat my adventure of being roped down the Arizona slot canyon sas I have done fifteen years ago, but that's just fine. I can wrestle with my little daughters instead. It may be safer. Crossing the 50 year barrier should make us appreciate the fact that we have lived fifty years already while many others died before the age of 50. Isn't this a great relief?
 
Ruben,

Mid-life crisis is exactly the term my wife uses to describe my contemplation of things that are, things that could have been, and things that still might be. Some days I feel strong enough to begin anew, and others I just resign myself to maintain life's equilibrium. This mental ping-pong match can get to be too much at times, and this is where photography can provide a much needed relief.

As an aside, have you found an increased trepidation when having to make a decision as you get older?
 
WARNING: Issues of death will be addressed at length in this post. Think twice if you are fit to this post.

Hi Folks again,

I am quite happy about this thread and hope it will continue. It will be nice if 20 years from now, RFF would be alive and kicking, and I would find this thread and read it, in light of my circumstances then.

I would like to throw some optimistic as well as realist thoughts, which with all honesty this thread helped me so far to elaborate. The following sentences will be written as if I was the Lord of The True, therefore kindly remind and diggest these are just my thoughts, according to my experience and understanding - nothing more. It is just that right now I don't feel much attracted to play the nice guy role and adding each five lines "in my opinion". Everything I write is my opinion, like every thing you write is yours.

I think that my nose has been detecting something real about my life, and perhaps every body's. And it is the following: the first part of the match is ended and gone. Now I am entering the second and last one. Or perhaps I am already deep there and just now I start to catch it.

The difference between the two parts is cruel and simple. In contrast to the first one two factors are inseparable part of the second part: some kind of body limitations, or[and deseases will appear, and at some date we'll die. Both unknown yet, unless one programes the latter.

Now I promised the reader some optimistic as well as realist thoughts, and if I am ready to face what I have written about the second part of life, let me arrange the table.

The understanding that the body starts to deteriorate is of value in order to fight it. Yes, I am not going to stop deterioration, nor I can know in advance which desease may or may not attack me. But realizing we are more vulnerable than in the past first part of the game - it has a lot of value. Physical training, eating control, medical periodical checking - all these on a disciplinated basis may slow by far and large the impact of aging and its consequences.

As you don't know me in day to day reality, to achieve the above is for me very much like climbing the Everest. It is a true fight with my highly undisciplinated self.

I can choose not to fight this fight, or be lazy when doing it - but it is up to me. In 20 years from now when re-reading this thread I should not complain: I MAKE MY CHOICE. I am responsible for myself to myself.

Now let's go to the death issue. Here things become really thrilling. The optimistic side is that today you and me can choose to live mind awaked till we are at our 90's. Not bad at all!

On the other hand I may die just tomorrow at a road accident, and this "here and now" should be faced beforehand to achieve an educated compromise with destiny, whatever it be, enabling a quiet life till our 90's in case no major accident or desease blocks the way.

In other words, and I am not sure they are necessary, I should plan, work and fight for a life of another 40 years, and be quietly ready at the same time that destiny may end my prospect at any time, including tomorrow morning. And in addiion, take it calmly.

Humans seem not like the fact they are mortals. Along History they have tried and still continue to leave an "herency" that somehow will extend their lives. Kings and warriers left behind "heritages" of doubtfull value. (Presidents too.).
Artists leave behind their creations for which they sacriiced so much. Other kinds of people leave an example of impact.

And what will I be leaving if I die tomorrow ? After all I am a human too with my own Ego.

If this indeed happens soon, I do own a small pearl to leave to the world: my 16th years old daughter, who carries much of myself within herself besides her own. I very much trust her potential for good dids.

On the other hand if my project succeeds and my bones survive long, I find the dids brought to this thread about that extraordinary old man, of high value. He is an example for me to follow. I would like to seed a similar one, perhaps in some way of photography teaching.

I must comment before ending that I don't know what all this talk of me about death makes you feel. But at this precise moment I feel absolutely tranquile. It has helped me to openly approach it.

. . . . . .

Now I would like to add another element which does very much exist in Life.

Life changes continuously for good and for bad, in a series of unprevisible waves. Many times we find ourselves stucked and sometimes stucked for years: the current is against us.

I think that at such situations it is critical for us to keep ourselves alive as much as possible. We may not be able to reverse our fate. But if we manage to maintain our selves and our souls alive, we may be enough strong to take advantage of the right wave when it comes.

Avoiding going mad within our cells, while the current is against us, this is another fight, perhaps the most important one we should manage.

Cheers,
Ruben
 
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Ruben,

I'm glad you appreciated my post about my grandfather. That gives me licence to ramble a bit, but hopefully a point will emerge...we (as photographers) have an 'ace up our sleeve'...

I may get some facts wrong here...most of this is from memory...

1. I read about a buttoned-down school accounting teacher in London who died recently. His wife of 30-odd years of tranquil, steady, matrimony discovered a box of negatives in their basement, predating their relationship. All of them portraits of now-famous people, including Mick Jagger and Michael Caine. And not 'paperazzi' shooting, but posed sessions. Apparently, before taking up the teaching profession, he was an ambitious photographer, and frequented nightclubs and built quite a portfolio of up-and-coming talent. Widow had no idea. I heard she's publishing them, but there is no story to accompany the imagery: No description of the life or times they were taken in. Pity.

2. Going through my grandmother's things a few years ago, I found some photographs with writing on the back, where she described trials and tribulations of a particular family vacation. Her diary on the back of the pictures. The photographs went from meaning nothing to me to everything.

3. Where would we be without Edward Weston's Day Books? It's not just his smokestacks or his peppers that give him legacy. We all know what it was like to be in his shoes because of what he left behind in those pages.


Okay, back to your point.

We are mortal and we hate that. We do our ancestors a favour by continuing the chain they started, and leaving links for our children to add to. But the depth of field is pretty shallow without tangible artifacts. As photographers we have an advantage in leaving behind a visual record of our times and our lives. We can leave our prints or our albums as a record of our active existence and participation. What we choose to photograph or document says a lot about our personality and point of view, but annotations and words provide context and perspective.

This is our way of cheating death, as long as we do a proper job so our life's passion doesn't end up in a landfill somewhere.

Anything??
 
I'm your age exactly, and I just had my first baby with a 29 year old wife.

My back hurts if I carry things that are too heavy. I used to never consider that.

I have to get up at night to pee more often, and I take blood pressure pills and Lipitor.

Other than that, nothing bothers me, other than having to make sure I live 20 more years to take care of the kid. The wife wants another one.

I've always been morbid and obsessed with death, and this hasn't changed, but I'm still here, so maybe worrying about it is a good thing.

I wouldn't join any club that would have me as a member.

The problem with Jews is that they think too much and everyone hates 'em, no matter what they do. My advice is not to watch TV shows about disturbing things, and to eat more food. If possible, get a young girlfriend, although this hobby is more expensive than Kievs.

This is serious advice.
 
Hi David,

I do appreciate your post and your approach to photography which I share very much and find your wording of it very delicate.

Unfortunately right at this moment my life's photos are a mess of disorganization, so if tomorrow....

But I don't share "We are mortal and we hate that", as it seems to me I came to accept the unavoidable mortality. I am tryiing to find a balance between working for a long life but taking any moment death as a tranquile part of it. It sounds hard.

Cheers,
Ruben
 
I find that riding a motorcycle forces me to consider my mortality, which helps me to live and act accordingly. When getting on a bike (and I guess this goes for pedal powered bicycle riders as well as they too are more vunerable) one must be able to say: Today is a fine day to die.
 
51 is too old to be riding a motorcycle. There might be a psychiatric problem here. 10,000 posts on a camera forum also comes into play regarding this.

How about "this is a fine day NOT to die", sport?
 
Wrong Circumstance

Wrong Circumstance

I speak only of these things over a pint. That's what pints are for. When the pints are run dry, so are sad discussions. At least it was a good pint or two, and a sad song in a beer is a good song while it lasted.
 
M. Valdemar said:
51 is too old to be riding a motorcycle. There might be a psychiatric problem here. 10,000 posts on a camera forum also comes into play regarding this.

How about "this is a fine day NOT to die", sport?
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Many thanks for your friendly post.
 
"Enjoy Every Sandwich." - Warren Zevon

"You never know where you're going till you get there." - Sylvester the Cat


Being a child of the Cold War, I grew up with the notion that living in the moment (not to be confused with living only for the moment) was to live in a more heightened state, because you never knew–in fact you still never know–when someone is going to do something hasty/stupid/nefarious and bring the curtain down on everything quite abruptly. There were times I was convinced I'd never make it past 30. (I damn nearly didn't make it past 17, but that's another story.) At 52–next to no one I meet believes it when I tell them my age–I feel I'm lucky that whatever signs of aging I can detect are subtle, at best.I still ride my bikes, occasionally quite fast, but I pace myself with a bit more care. Autofocus cameras have come and gone; I bought into AF because I thought they'd be an asset (I've been nearsighted most of my life, which ironically might now be working in my favor), but when I hit my 40s, what I really couldn't deal with anymore were heavy SLRs and their heavier-still high-speed zooms and such. Losing AF (among other auto-creature-comforts) was hardly the hardship some were warning me of.

When it comes to the things you love and care about, I firmly believe in the adage "keep on keepin' on." There are some things we can't help or avoid (and not necessarily due simply to aging), but giving up something because you think you can't (or shouldn't) be doing it anymore, IMO, is already putting the proverbial one foot in the grave. More often than not, the things we feel most passionate about are the things that keep us going, and not just figuratively. Keeping the mind sharp and the heart open isn't gobbledygook to me, it's essential. Not to mention a hell of a lot more fun than the alternative.


- Barrett
 
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Barrett, mostly I agree. I wasn't that nervous during the cold war. I knew then that we do something about problems.
 
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I'm 35, which I believe is younger than all the thread poster thus far, though not by too much.

Only really started photography up in the past several years and only genuinely seriously in the past year, so I don't know that I can say much about age and photography specifically. My only perspective on my younger time and photography is, "Wow, I really knew nothing at all back then, but I wasn't taking any pictures, so why would I have?"

While many could, fairly, consider me still young, there are grown folk who I'm quite senior to. For the most part, I feel if anything I'm better, stronger and faster than I used to be. I have lost a certain amount of twentysomething stamina, but that's psychological as well as physical. These days, I just don't feel motivated to punish myself anymore on a whim. If need be, I can and do stay up through the night working and through the next day, but without some driving need, I'd rather just go to bed.

The loss I feel more keenly on the physical level has less to do with age and more just with laziness: I'm a great deal less flexible than I used to be, but not I think, that much less in than when I was about twenty. My father is a martial arts teacher, and while I wasn't that diligent at training, I did more as a kid than later on. Once upon a time, I could sit on the floor with my legs straight out in front of me and touch my head to my knees. Lost most of that through neglect through my late teens. I have mixed feelings when I look around me and find that, for a man my age who isn't specifically a dancer or gymnast, that I'm still considered very good.

For now, I don't feel I'm limited in what I can do physically to get out there and take photos versus any other time in my life. That'll change eventually, as unless we die young, all of us inevitably grow old and with age comes limitations. I don't worry about it though, as I look my father, who is nearing 80 and really only now starting to show that I might in some way be physically more durable than him. We can't avoid growing old, but we can take care of ourselves and not get sick.
 
It seems to me from reading many of the contributions to this thread that there is a huge amount of negativity out there. Life is to be lived, and enjoyed to the fullest, not endlessly dissected and worried about. Every day is a good day to be alive, and it is up to each and every one of us to make the most of it in whatever way we can, and see fit.

Regards,

Bill
 
M. Valdemar said:
51 is too old to be riding a motorcycle. There might be a psychiatric problem here. 10,000 posts on a camera forum also comes into play regarding this.
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You're never too old to rock and roll
If you're too young to die - Ian Anderson

Perhaps fewer people have questioned my sanity regarding playing in New York City traffic with my bicycles because I don't "look my age." But it's not a question of age, only ability. i'm far more physically active than my father at the same age (and he died twelve years later...that may have been a large part of the impetus to get back on a bike thirty years ago), and in much better overall health. I'm of the mind that it's the "you're too old for this" stuff that needlessly gets in the way too often. Yep, you ought to have a level head about this stuff; I likely might not go skydiving to celebrate my 80th birthday, should I make it that far, but throw a leg over a bike then? Damn straight I will, if I can. And not for the sake of showing off, either

[/quote]How about "this is a fine day NOT to die", sport?[/quote]
How about it, indeed. But there's a James Dean quote that puts it much better...


- Barrett
 
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